


I Asked You To Dance But You Said No

by AnotherPhanficWriter



Category: Phandom/The Fantastic Foursome (YouTube RPF)
Genre: 2009, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Angels, Chaptered, Dan Howell Is Not A Youtuber, Falling In Love, Happy Ending, M/M, Magic, Phil Lester Is A Sweetheart, Repeating the Day, and still a Youtuber
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-27
Updated: 2018-10-05
Packaged: 2019-07-03 12:33:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 14
Words: 16,642
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15818964
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AnotherPhanficWriter/pseuds/AnotherPhanficWriter
Summary: Dan and Phil are Soulmates, they are SUPPOSED to be together, at least that's what all the other angels in The Above tell Dan. And it becomes Dan's mission to make Phil fall in love with him so that the Lords that own him can release him from the hell they are putting him in. Unfortunately, Phil turns him down at the end of the first date in every possible way, despite Dan redo-ing the day over and over so he can get it right. Somewhere along the way he figures out why he can't ever get Phil to say yes at the end of the night.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> So. This is another one. I honestly have no idea where this came from but I was just sat there after having finished my previous one and I just felt that impulse to write some more. Title is sort of taken from Crash and Burn (You said No) by Busted. Kudos and Comments are welcome, Enjoy!

It was a Sunday night when Dan was sent down to earth with his mission. The lords decided it was the perfect day as it was the start of a new week and would be quiet enough so people wouldn't notice Dan randomly popping up somewhere, despite them being rather reluctant to send their most prized gifted human back to Earth. For Dan was a angel with powers, powers that allowed him to alter days and manipulate his settings. 

And that's why he was sent. All gifted angels at the age of 17 get the chance to escape The Above, but the only way they can do this is if they find their soulmate within 12 weeks (before they turn 18) and make them fall in love. If they are unsuccessful, they end up being sucked back up to The Above and are forced to live their days doing menial tasks for the Lords. Dan knew that the chance of escaping was small, he'd only ever known four people to be successful and never return, but he was determined to make this person fall in love with him. 

His first task from speaking to some of the other gifted humans was to find who his soulmate was. To do this, he figured he would need access to someone's laptop. He walked for a while until he found a house which was sure to have a laptop in it. To be able to get in the house unnoticed he'd need to use his powers, so he knelt down on the pavement for a second and closed his eyes. When he opened them, everything was frozen: A bird in mid-flight, a man walking his dog late at night and, more importantly, the people in the house had all stopped. 

He hadn't frozen time, though. He couldn't do that. No one could, but he just paused the people. Almost like he was watching a movie unfold and he'd paused it to go get some food or for a toilet break. Time was still passing, the people just didn't know.

He quickly snook into the house and chose the nearest computer, which was in front of a young boy. He'd frozen just as he had clicked on a gaming website so Dan struggled getting the computer mouse from out of his cold, dead-like hands.

As soon as he had it in his hands, he went on a few sites to see if his super intelligence could find his soulmate that way but he couldn't. He had to use his power again. 

Manipulating a computer was much harder than manipulating people but Dan was strong enough. This time he held his fingers against the keyboard and let his power take over. 

Within five minutes he felt his power stop, he'd either found who he was looking for or he'd become exhausted; which can happen to young gifted Angels like himself. He opened his eyes and found himself staring at a YouTube video of a man. 'Okay', Dan thought. 'My soulmate is a dude... And apparently likes drawing on his face'.

***

It had been a hard day for Phil. He'd been arguing with his parents again about his future. They didn't think YouTube was a career but he had reached 25,000 subs so people clearly liked his content, and he got paychecks from sponsorships and ads; albeit small ones but it was money. 

He decided to film a video, they always calmed him down and he hadn't uploaded in a week so his dedicated subscribers may think he was dead. 

This time he decided to make one drawing a cat on his face, he had a marker and drawing was supposed to calm people down, wasn't it? 

After he filmed the quick video, he edited it and then uploaded it. It didn't take long for the views to start trickling in and within 10 minutes Phil had managed to achieve 600 views. That had got to be a record. 

He lay down in bed and tweeted that he uploaded on YouTube, but no one really looks at his twitter. He got 3 retweets, 3 likes by the time he checked again, two hours later. 

He decided he'd sleep, drawing on his face didn't really help, neither did surfing the internet. He got comfy and lay down, putting his phone on his bedside table. 

It had been a few hours but he was woken up by a ping from his phone, he quickly reached to silence it. He really didn't need his parents coming in his room to tell him off; after all he was 21 (nearly 22), he was an adult!

He checked the notifications and noticed he had 23 from twitter. That was the most he'd ever gotten. 'They must be likes and retweets', he thought. He quickly clicked on it and waited for it to load. It turned out he'd only got 3 more retweets and 3 more likes, but he'd got 5 reply backs, a new follower and had also received 11 direct messages from the new follower.

He checked the replies and found it was technically only three, the three people who had retweeted and liked had replied and one user 'danisnotonfire' had replied to the other two agreeing that he enjoyed the video. 

He next checked the dm's from his new follower and found it was the fire kid again. 

*danisnotonfire*: Hi. I'm Dan and I'm a big fan of yours.  
*danisnotonfire*: So erm, I think you're cute  
*danisnotonfire*: Ohgod. You're probably not into guys  
*danisnotonfire*: I don't even know if this is your account  
*danisnotonfire*: What if you're a mass murderer?  
*danisnotonfire*: You probably think I'm a murderer now, but I promise I'm not  
*danisnotonfire*: Your videos are really good and so funny  
*danisnotonfire*: And I was wondering if I could get some editing tips?  
*danisnotonfire*: Jesus. That sounded bad.  
*danisnotonfire*: I meant actual editing tips.  
*danisnotonfire*: I'll stop now :'(

"Aww", Phil whispered out loud. No one had ever asked him for editing tips before. He decided to make sure this guy wasn't sketchy (checking anything he'd tweeted before), but he just seemed like a new user. He decided to take the leap. If the guy wanted to chop him up and/or rape him, Phil had the number for the police.

So he typed out a quick reply and sent it, hearing a little sound of approval come from his mobile as it did. 

***

After watching the "AmazingPhil" video through to the end, Dan decided to watch a few more. He seemed so kind and he was hot too. He probably deserved someone better than Dan, after all - Dan was only trying to find him so he could escape The Above and never see the Lords again. 

He knows it's not that bad up there, they get fed, warm beds etc. But it's just not home. Earth was his home and the Lords took him from it as a child. 

No one could explain the mysterious children who went missing one after another, no one really wanted to admit something was wrong. But Dan was one of the children they took when he was only 8. He was taken along with 10 other children and the lords educated them about their gifts, and this was where he was told he was an Angel. 

He found out he had superpowers and these cool, super smart guys were going to teach him how to use/control them. He was wrong; the gifted children were taken to give the Lords' better lives, not the children themselves. The Lords teach the children how to use their powers and when they've mastered them, they're set tasks and chores to meet, purposefully made so they drain all their energy in the first few hours of the day. 

Dan thinks they could revolt, there's easily thousands of gifted humans back there with only 12 Lords, but they'd know. They just would. 

Dan clicked on his Soulmates bio, figuring he would have links to other media's that would perhaps hint at where he might be. 

The first he tried was Tumblr, but all the guy reblogged was animals. So then he tried his twitter and he realised he could contact the guy through direct messaging. 

He thought about manipulating the website to give him hidden information about this 'AmazingPhil', but he felt drained already, he couldn't do that without having a nap first. So he made an account to be able to message him. 

He figured he'd go for something witty, something that would definitely catch a person's eyes. So he figured he'd go for 'Danisnotonfire' as there was always a joke back at The Above about the time a kid accidentally set fire to everything in Dan's room during a practice but Dan managed to manipulate the fire to stay away from his body - meaning he remained 'notonfire'. 

As soon as he made the account he set about DMing Phil and afterwards he made sure everything was how it was supposed to be. He went outside and used what little power he had left to unfreeze 'time'. 

He was a little stuck about what to do at this moment: He had no money and nowhere to sleep. He walked for a while until he found a bench. If he got at least 6 hours of sleep he could get up refreshed tomorrow to use his powers to get some money. 

He lay down on the cold bench and closed his eyes, covering himself in a basic warming spell that produced a physical blanket, and he was out like a light.


	2. Chapter 2

By the time he woke up the next morning Dan felt stronger. He may have only had half of the recovery sleep he actually needed but it was enough to sort himself out. 

First things first, he needed to get a phone so he had a way of connecting to AmazingPhil while he sourced where abouts in Britain he lived, which definitely wouldn't be today; he just didn't have enough power for that. 

His first thought was to freeze the town like he did yesterday and walk into a shop and steal a phone but the shop could easily track the phone so he needed a better idea.

Cash. He needed money, and then he could use some of it to buy a phone. Perfect! 

He set about freezing the town as he did before and as it was frozen, he walked to the nearest shop and opened it's tills. He took a few £50 notes, just to last him a few days, and then walked back out the shop. He walked a bit further down the road before unfreezing the town, not wanting to get caught with the stolen money. 

He walked for a while until finding a phone shop, he bought a random phone which he knew he could use twitter on and handed over half of the money he stole. Phones were much more expensive than he originally thought. 

As soon as a shop assistant helped him set it up, he was on his way. 

Dan soon found a small dog park and sat on a mostly clean bench. He logged on to twitter and saw that AmazingPhil had replied. 

*Amazingphil*: Hi Dan, ^v^. Thanks for watching my videos. I'm always here to help out a newcomer on the YouTube scene. We can skype if you'd like? >•<

Skype? He wanted to skype? This guy was really forward, he was making this so easy for Dan. They'd be confessing their love to each other in no time. 

Dan typed a quick reply and set about making a skype, but he realised halfway through making an account he'd probably need a computer for this and he definitely needed to find a place to stay. 

He needed much more money. 'Back to freezing the town again', Dan thought.

 

***

It was the afternoon of the next day when Phil woke up, which was pretty standard. He didn't have to show his face at uni much and he didn't have any friends. His parents didn't really bother much with him either, they just couldn't wait for him to move out and neither could he. 

He checked his phone and noticed the small twitter notification. That fan from yesterday replied. 

*danisnotonfire*: Skype? We could, I just need to sort things out first and then we can (mostly need to make a skype account), we could do it later. Thank you x

A kiss. There was a kiss. Well, an 'x' but that was a kiss in text speak. How could Phil have already fallen in love with this person without even properly speaking to them? Without even seeing their face? Without knowing literally anything about them apart from their name? Oh god. He didn't know his age. What if he was going to be skyping a fourteen year old kid? What if he was a fifty year old creep? 

Despite all these fears, Phil was still going to go through with all this. He wanted to see how it was going to pan out. 

He got out of bed and pulled on a t-shirt and headed downstairs. At the kitchen table, his dad was reading the newspaper. He gave Phil one look up and down and visibly grimaced. "That t-shirt, Phil? Really?". 

Phil looked down at it, there was nothing wrong with it. He washed it yesterday so it was clean and there were no stains. "What's wrong with it?".

"It's got a rainbow on it, it's very distasteful. You aren't in primary school anymore".

Phil frowned. It wasn't because of that and both of them knew it. And his shirt barely had a rainbow on it, it was more splashes of colour. 

"So the childish aspect of it is what's offending you? Because yesterday I swear it could've been over the fact that rainbow's are a symbol of gay and I prefer sucking dick then-". Phil was angry, fuming and his dad put his hand up to stop him speaking. 

"I've told you, stop bringing that political garbage in this house. Don't pretend you're a homosexual just to make a point, we already went through this with your auntie. Decided to be a lesbian feminist, slept with one girl, didn't like it, and now she's married to a man and a housewife. So we don't need any more political drivel in this household, gays get the same rights as we do". Phil's dad spoke as if he knew everything. Phil stood there and listened to the dross, his dad did not understand anything. 

He thought Phil was pretending to be gay because 'being gay is cool' nowadays. 

"Dad, your sister is not straight just because she settled down with a man and had two kids. She told me herself she identifies as bisexual". 

Phil's dad ignored him, he often did this when Phil was speaking sense. Phil laughed loudly knowing he'd outwitted his dad. 

He grabbed a bowl of cereal and went back to his bedroom. Spilling milk on the stairs but not caring one bit, just knowing his dad would find those later and have to clean it himself just got rid of some of his pissed off-ness. 

**

Dan had gone into a McDonalds and stole some more money from the tills and a Chicken burger to eat while he found a bed and breakfast. 

He'd walked for about an hour before reaching a hotel, 'a large £20 a night' was imprinted on a sign outside. 

Dan had a total of £600 left from his stolen funds and he still needed to purchase a cheap laptop, but he figured when he sorted it all out he could just warp the owners mind into thinking he'd paid. 

The owner was a young woman who just handed over the keys after Dan promised to pay for ten days up front, and so he was now £200 down, but had a bed. 

He walked up there and began chatting to Phil again. And later he managed to get his phone number and then they continued the conversation over message when twitter began feeling an unfamiliar source to talk to someone Dan already considered a good friend. Whether he had found his soulmate was a completely different question. 

Did he like Phil? Sure, he sounded like a really nice guy in his videos and over text. Did he love Phil? No, not yet at least. But some Soulmates don't succeed, and some end up unrequited and some aren't based on a romantical or sexual love. Dan wasn't sure how he and his Soulmate's relationship would end up. 

Dan ended his conversation with Phil by sending a yawning cat gif and then he rested early, knowing he'd need his powers if he wanted to get a laptop in the morning. 

**

The rest of the day saw Phil filming a video and then editing it, which took him a while because he wanted it to be a long one this time and not just a short clip like his last video. 

He hadn't planned to film one today, but the inspiration he was getting off Dan really helped, and so he was getting ideas like a tap drips water. 

He saves his progress when he heard a ding on his phone, rolling over to pick it up from where he'd dropped it on the floor. 

Later on, when Phil heard his dad swearing over the spilt milk on the stairs, he couldn't care less. He was in a deep conversation with Dan about some of their favourite things, he'd found out they had mutual feelings over the band Muse and they both liked buffy (even if Phil liked it much more than Dan). 

He couldn't believe he'd struck luck, most of the fans who try to talk to him all want weird things like feet pictures, his underwear or nudes. All of which he was not prepared to send, but Dan was different. At this point he wasn't just a fan of his self-proclaimed crappy YouTube videos, he was a friend. 

When Dan ended the conversation, claiming he was tired, Phil fell into his bed. He stared at the ceiling, watching the light penetrate the gap through his curtains more along it as the position of the sun changed. He stayed like that for a while, not even noticing when his room had gone dark and his eyes had closed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not actually 100% sure where I will go with this, like, I have all the chapters outlined and I know where it will eventually go. I just hope people enjoy it as much as the other fics (I reached 100 kudos on The Wedding Date and I was very happy, so thank you).


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hiiiiiiii again!! I will probably update this three times a week maybe? Just keep an eye on it for random ass updates, basically

It had been a week since Dan had arrived on Earth, and he felt he wasn't getting anywhere with Phil. 

The very fact he had to do this all over the internet, working up to actually skyping this guy, it all felt a bit, well, slow. He could twist time and speed up the process but that had severe consequences. He'd known someone to get Warped Broca's after speeding up the time it took them to find something, and now they could barely speak. 

It was also tiring him having to use his powers to convince people into seeing something they weren't. An example being a few days ago when he'd purchased a cheap laptop as per the plan and he had to use all his powers to make the person believe he was handing money over which meant affecting their visuo-spatial sketchpad and their touch sensors. 

But, he'd got the laptop. All he needed now was the courage. Which was the tricky part, except he had 11 weeks left to make Phil love him before eternal doom eclipsed his whole being. 

It was a random time in the day when he bit the bullet, and just pressed call after finding Phil's username. It blooped for a few seconds and flashed. And then a grainy image of Phil popped up wearing glasses and his black fringe all over his eyes. And then Dan realised just how powerful this soulmate stuff was. 

**

Phil had been having a crappy time at home, to the point he'd been locking himself in his bedroom. All he needed was his phone, laptop and a box of crunchy nut which was nearly empty. 

His dad had been treating him horrifically, while his mum would ignore it all. She'd be gone too early in the morning to see how horrid Phil's dad was to him and by the time she'd come back from work, Phil would be in his room. 

And so he'd taken to just living his life out in his cramped bedroom. At least he had Dan for company, but everytime he asked if he wanted to skype yet, Dan would say no and make excuses. Which would obviously be ok if Dan was genuinely nervous about all that, but he hadn't even sent a selfie or hinted at what he looks like bar a comment about a poodle~vampire crossbreed. 

Phil was starting to question him, was Dan actually Dan? Was this a situation? Maybe he was being catfished. It was getting more and more popular to do that nowadays. 

Just as Phil was questioning everything that lead up to Dan being Dan, he heard a little ping from his laptop which sat open on his desk charging. 

He touched the mousepad and saw Dan was phoning him. Face calling. He'd get to actually see him, yes the picture was awful but he'd be able to make out a lot from just that. Like if he was the near eighteen year old he was claiming to be. 

Phil got comfy on his bed and pressed accept. "Hi!". Dan said, holding the camera close to his face. 

Phil chuckled to himself, "You need to pull it away, all I see is your nose". And then Dan moved away and revealed himself. Phil wasn't too shocked about the appearance of Dan, he knew little details such as 'boring brown eyes' (Phil would call them chocolate) and hobbit hair, but he was taken back by how bright he looked. Like, he was glowing. 

Phil hadn't spoken in a while, too mesmerized by this boy, by one of his fans. "Is the screen froze? You aren't talking?". Dan asked, shaking his computer and holding it up to his ear. 

"It's fine! Come back". Phil said, and then they both talked and listened. It was things they'd probably already told each other via message but it was different telling a story through text than actually using words to tell a story. 

Dan's were very gesticulated and he used a lot of hand movements while Phil took full advantage of his facial expressions; cringing perfectly at a cringey part in a story he was telling Dan. 

They'd been talking for three hours when Phil suggested they part ways, he had work to finish for uni and a video to finish editing and upload. Dan let him go, telling him they needed to skype more often. 

Phil clicked 'end call' and Dan's face froze then disappeared. Was it too early to say he actually liked him? They had a lot in common, Phil just couldn't believe he found him through his videos. 

He lay back down in bed and finally started having a good feeling about doing Youtube. 

**

Just before they said goodbye and ended the skype call, Dan used his power to track Phil, but he wasn't strong enough for it, he would need to work up to tracking Phil. He needed to transport an interreality shadow of himself into Phil's room and try and figure out his address that way. 

He didn't even know how he'd do that, they certainly hadn't taught him back at The Above, he could clean, cook and do basic tasks. Which is all he needed to do living with the Lords. The only reason he knew how to freeze people was because he'd stolen a book from the library and shared it with his friends in The Above. 

Dan leaned down in his bed and tried to change his environment appearance, he was a bit rusty with it. He'd used it a few times back at The Above to trick the Lords into thinking he'd cleaned the kitchen, his workspace and even his room. 

The room around him flickered for a few seconds into a familiar looking room background he'd gotten used to see in Phil's video. He looked down at his bed covers, and for a split second they were coloured blue and green, and then he blinked. They were back to the standard beige colour of the hotel's own supplied duvet covers. 

Dan sighed. He'd need to try harder with his powers if he wanted to stay on Earth with Phil.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tiny little advisory: I mention Skype a few times in this and I actually don't know how to use it, I used it a few times almost ten years ago to Skype friends but other than that, my knowledge is pretty bad. So just approach my 'Skype scenes' with caution I suppose.

It's a few days after Dan and Phil first skyped and they'd texted everyday since, and Phil decided on another time to skype together. 

Phil had to arrange it around his studies and the fact he had YouTube videos to upload, his last one which he uploaded shortly after the skype call with Dan had done better than usual and so he gained more fans who wanted fresh content and he was struggling to juggle everything at once. But a skype call with Dan would be the perfect distraction. 

**

Dan, over the last few days, had been learning how to perfect his powers. He hadn't yet been able to hold changing his surroundings for more than a few minutes. 

He hadn't even figured out what he should be looking for, something with an address he figured but he couldn't be sure that Phil would keep something with his address on his room. 

Maybe he could just use his power as a tracker, but he's only know one other person to track things and they left The Above and never came back. One of the lucky few. 

It was nearly time for Dan and Phil's skype call and Dan was picking a shirt to wear in the clothes shop down the road from his bnb. He knows it sounds stupid but he wants to make an effort for Phil, even if all he can see is blur.

He settled on a navy blue checked shirt, it gave him serious Phil vibes and it just made him feel warm. His feelings for Phil were already full blown and he hadn't even met him yet, he'd never felt this kind of feeling before. 

He bought the shirt, only a £10 dent in his little amount of money and went back to his hotel room to change his shirt and get prepared for the skype call. He couldn't wait. 

**

It took a while for Dan to answer, Phil assumed he was probably putting his laptop on a desk so he could sit more comfortably. Having to lean over to get into the picture probably isn't the best for someone's posture. 

Phil was about to give up when Dan came into the screen, panting lightly and moving around with the laptop. "Why are you panting? Oh, and hey". Phil said, looking at Dan's face up close. 

"I was getting changed!". He said, pulling down his shirt and then lying down on the bed, balancing the laptop on his stomach. 

"Right". Phil said, blushing slightly at the idea of Dan a few seconds before getting changed. 

And then without much more waiting, Dan and Phil jumped head first into conversation. Phil told Dan about how he suspects his neighbours are in a polygamous relationship, which makes Dan laugh a lot. Phil based his assumptions on pretty much no facts, bar his imagination; he keeps going because it makes Dan laugh. 

He'd just finished another story about how his friend nearly punched a famous actor in the face when she met them on a night out when Dan asked to be excused for a second. "Hold on, I need some water, I'll be a few minutes". Was all he said before he left Phil's sight on the screen. 

**

Dan tried to find a chance when he could investigate and use his magic, but then he got distracted by Phil's funny stories. When Phil finally left a gap between his story telling (Dan wasn't complaining, he could listen to Phil's northern accent all day), Dan jumped up and told him he was going to get some water. 

It was the only good lie that came to his head, and so when he walked behind where he had set his laptop, Phil couldn't see him work his magic. He closed his eyes and imagined Phil's room from what he'd seen of it during videos and skype and when he opened his eyes, he was in Phil's room. 

He quickly had a look around, knowing there was a time limit with these kind of things, and walked past Phil who was sat at his desk. Phil definitely couldn't see him, he had waved his hand in front of his face but Phil was still looking at the laptop screen. 

Phil was, apparently, not wearing any trousers. That was something Dan would try to remember to tease him about after coming back from 'getting his water'. 

Dan was looking around, he looked out the window and tried to find street sign but there was nothing. He could feel himself pulling away, and started picking things up despite the fact if Phil turned around he'd see items floating in the air for no apparent reason. 

And then Dan was pulled back but just as he reached his room, he'd had a feeling he knew where he was. 

He came back on screen with the glass of water he'd set aside earlier and finished the call with Phil, he even remembered to tease him about the fact he wasn't wearing trousers to their now weekly video meetings. 

Later on, Dan was packing his things up. He wasn't sure where he was going but he knew he'd know when he got there, he had an instinctual pull to just go and he knew it would lead to Phil. 

**

When Dan came back, something was different, but Phil wasn't sure what it was. He hadn't changed anything about him, maybe he cleaned his teeth or something, Phil thought. Any case, he was drinking his water and watching Phil tell story after story. 

And then Dan asked Phil to stand up for a second because he never stood up in videos and he wanted to see if he was as tall as he says he is. "Erm, I can't stand up right now". Phil said, looking down at his bare legs. He didn't think he had to put trousers on if he was just showing his upper body, he thought wrong. 

"Oh?". Dan said, and then he repeated it again as if he had realised something. "You don't have trousers on?". Dan laughed and Phil blushed. 

"Actually shut up. I didn't think I'd need to show my legs". Phil said, lifting his leg slightly to show Dan his bare leg and tapping his knees. Dan just shook his head. 

They finished the skype call after that and Phil fell asleep, he'd have to remember to wear jeans or something next time.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Some homophobia in this one, just a little notice. Enjoy!

After nearly half a day of traveling, which was a combination of walking and jumping on random buses with his daysaver, Dan had arrived to a small town just outside of Manchester. 

And that's where 'the scent' was lost. He didn't know whether or not his powers had been lost or if he'd arrived in the area where Phil was. The only way to do this was see if he could manipulate something. 

He tried a simple alteration spell, and picked up a singular peach from greengrocers. He held it in his hands and shut his eyes, focusing on the peach. When he opened his eyes it had changed colour, instead of a fresh looking orange it turned bright blue and green with little flecks of yellow. So his powers were still in full force, which meant he was where Phil was. 

He placed the fruit back down and turned it back to the fresh colour it had before and walked into the shop, maybe he could ask for the directions to a BnB near their. He would need a place to stay if he wanted to skype Phil again. 

Dan walked into the grocers, there was a middle-aged man with little hair bagging oranges for an older lady. He'd just finished up when Dan walked over to ask him. 

"Excuse me". Dan said, walking over to the counter. 

"Yes, lad?". He grumbled out, he was giving Dan the time of day. 

"I was wondering if there was a hotel or Bed and Breakfast near here". Dan asked, touching his backpack straps. The man groaned in reply then ripped a piece of paper from his counter on the back. He then scribbled something down on the paper and handed it over to Dan. 

"Address for the nearest one. It's about fifteen minutes straight down". He growled, pushing Dan out of his shop without much else. 

Dan looked at the paper and tried to use a orientation spell, if he could use it right it would lead him to the hotel. 

The paper glowed at one corner and then he could see short transparent gold lines where he figured he'd follow. After following the lines to the point they disappeared from his eyes, he was right outside a cottage-looking place. 

He went inside what he assumed was the foyer or reception area, and the person at the desk was biting their nails. "Room for one, please?". Dan asked. The guy quickly sorted it out and soon Dan was being led up a thin staircase to a bare room. 

"The daily rate is £35, free tea and toast from 8:30 am till 10am and we expect the money by 8am of everyday you stay here". The guy coughed, leaning his hand out. Dan took out the cash, handing it over and ushering the man out. 

It was a really small room, with a tiny shower and toilet connected to it, but Dan didn't mind. He'd also have to do something about the price of the room, use his powers to convince the guy he was seeing money but he was a bit of a cynic so was harder to control. He'd manage he always did. And at least there was WiFi. He could skype Phil after all. 

Thinking about Phil made him check his direct messages, and Phil had sent him a few messages about skyping again, and sleeping and also about dogs. Did Dan like them? He'd seen a few since arriving to Earth but back at The Above 'dogs' weren't a thing. No one had them, a few of the Lords had one or two cats and other little animals but no dogs. 

Dan figured they were cute after Phil sent him millions of selfies of him with dogs he'd seen on his walks back from uni (even if the man in those pictures were cuter than the dogs). 

Dan flopped in bed and arranged another skype call with Phil. A few days time taking them up to two weeks he'd been on Earth, it'd give him time to get the courage to ask to meet, the apprehension of the task feeling daunting and all consuming. 

**

When Phil woke up early the next day, he went to uni and spent the day in the library sending Dan messages, which mostly consisted of quick fire questions to find out more about Dan. 

*AmazingPhil*: Cats or Dogs?

Dan hadn't given a real answer, he said he didn't know. So Phil left the library he'd sat in instead of attending lectures and walked around the park taking selfies with dogs while their owners wandered around unsuspecting of the man taking pictures with their dogs. 

He'd sent them all to Dan, and awaited a message back. 

*Danisnotonfire*: That one's so fluffy!   
*Danisnotonfire*: I succumb, they are so cute 

Phil was getting back to his house while he and Dan planned another skype call. It was something he looked forward to now, and after having a long day at university he couldn't wait to see Dan's face. Even if it was grainy and awful picture. 

Phil decided to take a long route home to think and to see more dogs, and so when he got back it was getting late. Almost dark out. 

Phil's dad was sat in the kitchen with the light on, waiting for Phil. "Where have you been?". He asked, drinking coffee and looking down at his watch knowing the time already. 

"Uni". Phil said, grabbing butter from the fridge and chucking some toast in the toaster. 

His dad huffed, "It's almost 8". He said, slamming down his coffee and making the toaster prematurely throw Phil's toast up. 

"I was talking to my boyfriend". He said, knowing that would cause an argument; he wanted to get this out of the way. 

Phil's dad gets up and storms out the kitchen, "Stupid boy!". He flipped, "You won't love boys when you're married to a lovely girl with kids on the way!". He shouted, walking up the stairs. Phil knew he was stupid to follow, but he did anyway. 

"What if I get married to a boy? My boyfriend?". He shouts and he hears his dad stop in his tracks, and without turning around he growls out. 

"You wouldn't be my son anymore". 

Phil walks back into the kitchen and numbly eats his toast and falls in bed. How can he do this? That night, he nearly cries himself to sleep. It's more of a dry heaving himself to sleep, he's a ugly crier, and a small part of him wishes he wouldn't wake up in this body tomorrow. He didn't want it anymore. 

A few million miles off the situation is Vergessenheit (Oblivion) - The God of Darkness, he who owns Dan's soul and trained him from a young age (And also him who kidnapped Dan). He watches everything happening in his little glass ball, the glow of purple around the words 'Boyfriend'. A word Daniel Howell's soulmate should never have uttered, should never have even been thinking about. 

"Louise!". He shouts, his deep voice booming down the long hall to Louise's room. She came running, standing next to Oblivion and seeing what he was watching. It was Dan, and another screen a black haired lad; Dan's soulmate, she assumed. 

She knew what he was going to ask, she could alter someone's brain chemistry, their thoughts and feelings. "Yes, Sir?". 

He snapped his fingers, turning the screens off and turning to Louise. "I have a task for you". He growled. 

She swallowed, she knew it. "Yes, Sir?". 

Oblivion faced his black screens, watching his own appearance turn orange and red. "That boy thinks he can take my best slave". He gritted his teeth, banging his fists on his screens "He's got another thing coming". And then he punched his reflection copied into the screens, shattering the glass into one clean break. 

The fate of Dan and Phil had just been shifted.


	6. Chapter 6

It had been officially two weeks since Dan had been dropped on to Earth and he was no nearer asking Phil to meet up than he was before. 

He knew there were security issues, as in Phil felt a bit 'icky' meeting up with Dan - someone who wasn't even eighteen yet, a kid in his eyes. Dan hadn't even asked yet, but he was going to today in their skype session. 

He'd been busy all week, freezing people, getting money and altering perceptions; it was taking all his power out of him. More so than usual. But Phil was making it better, it could be a message or a picture but it would make Dan feel a little stronger. 

It was an hour before he was going to skype Phil when he thought he saw an apparition out of the corner of his eye. It was a tiny glow and looked like his friend, Louise, back from The Above; but this was ridiculous, Louise wouldn't be around Earth. She had her chance a few years ago and was unsuccessful, and so was banished. 

It was half an hour later when he thought he heard something, like gurgling, whispering or almost words; except it wasn't in his room. It was in his head. He ignored it and Skyped Phil early, it was really spooking him. Luckily, Phil picked up.

**

Phil had been scared to approach his dad after their conversation. He'd always knew his dad was homophobic, but just hearing him say that he'd disown Phil if he had a boyfriend was just life-shattering. 

He'd always had a little hope that his dad would be more accepting or that he'd understand more with time, but he isn't like that at all. He isn't going to ever be accepting, he isn't ever going to understand and Phil would have to try and get his head around that. 

But not today, he was going to skype Dan. Over the last few days he'd been sat in his room messaging Dan but every now and then, he'd get paranoid his dad would walk in and just snap. What if he saw the messages to Dan? What if he decided that today was the day he'd kick his son out? 

Even when Phil went to university he was getting weird thoughts, there was no explanation as to why he was thinking these things now. 

He'd even starting having paranoid thoughts about Dan. What if he met up with him and Dan wanted to murder him? Or rape him? Kidnap? He didn't know him that well, they'd been talking frequently for two weeks, but they didn't know each other like how Phil knew his uni friends, and his family. 

When he got home from university, it was nearly time to skype Dan, so Phil sat at his desk and decided to film a video. 

It was a little small one, just an update video. He was a few minutes into filming when his skype blooped on his laptop. He didn't question why Dan was early, he just stopped filming and pressed accept. 

"Hi Dani-snot-on-fire". Phil smiled, looking at Dan through the screen. 

"Hey, Your Amazingness". Dan said, pretending to bow to Phil. They both laughed and headed into conversation.

They talked about things they hadn't talked about over message, family and spoke about other things that weren't so personal like their favourite films. 

**

Dan was finding the perfect time to just jump in and ask. As much as he loved hearing Phil explain why Kill Bill was the best film of 2003, he really wanted to meet Phil. It would be like a catalyst for this whole 'twelve weeks to find soulmate'. It was probably the perfect way to do things. 

Phil was just going into another conversation about a different film when Dan jumped in, "Doyouwannameet?". He coughed. 

Phil looked at Dan and turned his head to the side. "I think my audio is a bit messed up, say that again". 

Dan took a deep breath and repeated his question again but slower. "Do you, maybe, want to meet? Like, next week?". 

Phil visibly swallowed. "Erm. Like, where? I don't even know where you live". 

It was Dan's time to come up with something, he hadn't exactly told Phil he was at least within a 20 mile radius of where he lived. That sounded a bit stalkerish. "I live in London". He decided on. 

"Are you sure you'd be alright to pay? Sixth form students are always poor". Phil asked, Dan thought it sounded like he was searching for any excuse. 

"I'd be able to pay". Dan said, and then they sat in silence for a few minutes and Phil nodded. 

"Okay, I'll pick you up at the Piccadilly Station". Phil said, exhaling. Dan knew he was feeling apprehensive, he could practically feel it through the screen. 

"We could make a day of it". Dan said, smiling and Phil smiled back. They ended it shortly after that and Dan sourced where the Piccadilly station was, luckily it was just one short train ride away. 

He fell asleep, still hearing words and seeing flickers of shadows not letting his focus on Phil fall. 

**

Phil was having a good time talking to Dan, all his worries melted away. He could speak about anything and it would feel nice to just talk. He was currently talking about kill bill, just so it could take his mind off his dad and everything else. 

But then he heard Dan say something. 

"I think my audio is a bit messed up, say that again". Phil asked, turning up the volume slightly to catch what he was talking about. 

And then he asked about meeting. Phil should've known really, in the last skype call it felt like Dan wanted to ask but he just didn't get around to it. He should've known that the end game of all this was that Dan wanted to meet up. It would be naïve to think he just wanted to skype till they were grown old and grey. 

Phil was nervous to say the least. It was like all his worries from the past few days were coming back to his mind all at once. 

But Dan looked excited and awaited an answer. So they planned, despite Phil not really wanting to meet up with Dan. He was excited, nervous and anxious all at once in one toxic package. 

They ended the call and Phil continued filming his video, not caring that the jumpcut would be bad and editing would take a while. He needed to do something to take his mind off, well, his own mind. 

**

Louise was working hard under Vergessenheit's order. He had recruited PJ to help too, he would be needed to make sure the plan was solidified. 

She implanted thoughts and PJ made sure the thoughts stayed their and manifested. She felt bad, but she knew the punishment for not doing what Oblivion ordered would be worst than whatever Dan would do to her when he found out she'd ruined his only chance at love and freedom. 

Oblivion left them alone, trusting them enough to do their job. And Louise had a plan. With only a tiny bit of her magic left she tried appearing to Dan, she tried to warn him; but she was too weak. PJ tried to project his voice to Dan, he too wanted to warn him. But he was also weak, the voice being a small whisper; indecipherable. 

The story unfolded in front of them, and they knew that they weren't strong enough to change the boys fate. Only Dan and Phil could change their fate now, they were alone.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Omg. Lateness. I'm sorry for anyone who wants a reliable uploading schedule because I had one and it is out the window. It may feel rushed, but I never said this fic was going to be long. I hope you enjoy anyway, even if I wrote this as my whole body decided to reject something I ate (tmi? Probably, sorry).

It was finally a week later and Dan had been in Piccadilly Station waiting for Phil for nearly an hour. 

The past week had gone pretty fast, he'd Skyped Phil three times since the last time and they had been planning everything they wanted to do (without actually making solid plans). Phil still sent him many pictures of animals he'd seen on the internet and in real life and when they had exchanged numbers (which Phil didn't really think was a big thing, but Dan thought was huge) they phoned each other. 

It was a different experience all together from just skyping, the quality of the video made it a bit shitty but hearing Phil's clear voice just made Dan really happy and he just couldn't believe he was going to actually meet him. 

Which brought him back to his current state of duress. 

Some would probably call him a bit too eager to be this early, but he just couldn't sleep. Anxiety, internet availability as well as whispers of voices that may have been coming from other rooms were all factors in his lack of sleep.

He just hoped he didn't look the picture of insomnia, deep set bags under the eyes had became a part of his face and he couldn't help but think he could hear voices. But that didn't sound right, didn't sound normal. 

He'd reached the three week mark, meaning he had nine weeks left to get Phil to fall in love with him and maybe he could pin the blame on that for his reason for being prompt and early at the station but he knew that would be lying. (The voices were keeping him up at night).

Despite the fact he was tired and felt like he was going to pass out, waiting for Phil to just walk around a corner at any minute was thrilling for Dan. Yes, obviously nerves were there but he couldn't wait. 

He went to the bathroom when they were approaching the time Phil said he'd be there for and made sure his hair looked good, he wouldn't admit to it but he had spent five hours pampering for this and two of those were him using heat to get rid of the curls in his hair. His hair had already starting flying away but he couldn't do anything now. He could sense Phil was near. 

Dan walked out of the bathroom and made his way over to the coffee shop and sat inside, ordering a drink and waiting for Phil.

**

Phil was having a bad week. 

His father was still pissing him off, trying to set him up with his business friends daughters now and Dan was just. He was Dan. 

He couldn't lie and say he wasn't excited to see him, because he was really excited and he knew that his reaction was probably normal. Nervous would be an understatement. 

Obviously, him and Dan had Skyped and he managed to hide his anxiety well enough to just enjoy their conversation. The truth was, he wasn't sure what he wanted to come out of talking to Dan, skyping Dan and meeting Dan. Did he want a friendship?

There was an immediate answer: Yes. Friends. Just friends. But deep down he wanted more, way more, too much. 

Which led him to buy Dan a present in the form of flowers. It was a few simple flowers called White Dittanies, there wasn't much about them except they had a lovely smell and Phil thought Dan would like them. 

He walked slowly to the train station and got a bit self-conscious with his impulse buy of flowers. Would Dan like them? Or would he think it was weird? 

All the thoughts Phil pushed aside and walked to the coffee shop he was meeting Dan. A few more steps and then he'd see him. 

Phil turned the corner and saw him sitting at a table and walked in, Dan's head lifted up and he smiled in sync to Phil walking over. 

Dan walked the rest of the way and gave Phil a hug. "Hey". Phil said, giving Dan an equally warm hug back. Dan pulled away after nearly a minute of hugging and chuckled. 

"Are those for me?". He smiled, pointing at the flowers getting crushed in Phil's hands. Phil looked down at the flowers and felt himself blush. 

"Er, yeah. Flowers". He stuttered, handing the flowers over to Dan. Dan leant down to smell them and popped them in his satchel; not before taking a picture of them on his phone.

"They're lovely". He commented and then they walked out the coffee shop and walked to Phil's car. On the way there, Dan pulled out his phone and showed Phil a page he'd got on the internet. 

"These are the ones you got me, correct?". Dan asked, showing Phil a picture of a bunch of flowers similar to the ones Phil had purchased. 

"Yes, White Dittany". Phil said mindlessly, remembering the little name card that was next to the bunches of flowers but focussing on finding where he parked his car.

"They are an aphrodisiac, apparently". Dan said, turning to Phil smiling. "Trying to get me in your bed, Lester?". Phil looked at him.

"I didn't know". He coughed wide eyed, Dan laughed and knocked shoulders with Phil. Even when they reached Phil's tiny car, Dan hadn't stopped thinking about Phil accidentally buying flowers that represented passion, something like that would've been brought up over and over again in The Above (just like the fire incident). The Lords liked to humiliate the 'angels'. 

After they were on the main road, Phil asked what Dan wanted to do. Of course they had loose plans but they needed to decide where to go now. 

"Let's watch a film?". Dan suggested, after throwing around some ideas. They passed a cinema and Phil pulled into the car park. 

"You pick". Dan said, this meant they were watching Avator, sharing an extra large bag of popcorn and a diet cola each. 

Dan would steal looks every now and then, but nothing could be compared to how many looks Phil stole. 

He was just wondering how different Dan looked in real life. In his profile picture, over skype he always looked rather young, but up close he could see that he wasn't as young as his own brain was making out. Seventeen was pretty young, but as Dan had told him over twitter dm's and subsequently over skype and texting, he was turning eighteen soon and he was only 4 and a half years younger than Phil. 

But that 4 and half years made all the difference to someone's mother, brother and father. His own family would probably not be too bothered (except his father for the obvious reasons), but what about Dan's family? He hadn't even spoken about them once. Just friends and neighbours. Maybe he didn't have a family or he was estranged. 

Whether or not Dan noticed (he did, very much) Phil had completely turned his attention from the movie to Dan and before long the movie was going off and showing the end credits. 

"Phil!". Dan whispered slightly louder than was probably socially acceptable in a cinema. 

Phil was snapped out of his thinking, blinking and looked back at Dan. "Huh?". 

Dan rolled his eyes, "I asked 'how did you find it?'". Phil nodded for a while, how could he have an opinion for something he hadn't really been watching?

"Alright, you?". Lucky for Phil, Dan launched into a whole monologue about his opinions of the film and what he would rate it if someone was to push for an answer. 

It was an hour after the film ended and after Dan suggested they go and have a late lunch/early tea combo they were at a little restaurant just outside of the main parts of Manchester. It was an Italian cuisine place and Phil ate there when he wanted the fancy pitta style pizza (other times he just wanted the type of pizza that was dripping in orange tinged grease). 

After they'd sat down and ordered, Dan was staring at Phil. "Something on my face?". Phil said, moving his mouth to search for the mess. Dan shook his head. 

"Your eyes. Three colours. They looked grey on skype". Dan said, and then before Phil could reply back to Dan, their food arrived and they sat in a comfortable silence eating their meal. 

Later, after they had eaten, Phil got the bill and paid when Dan went to the toilet. When he came back, Phil was carrying his jacket. 

"We haven't paid?". Dan said, taking his jacket from Phil's hands. 

"I did. My treat". Phil smiled, helping Dan slip his jacket on. They walked outside back to Phil's car and it wasn't that dark out, so Phil had an idea. 

He parked the car up on a public car park near a playground. "Let's go for a walk". 

They walked and Dan's hand would slide past the back of Phil's hand every now and then and both boys felt an impulse to hold, but Dan didn't grab out. He needed Phil to make the move. 

They walked for a while, and then Phil opened the gate to the playground and ran over to the seesaw. 

"Sit on the other end!". He stage-whispered, Dan did and they went up and down for a while. Both ignoring the creaks of protest the seesaw was making at both grown (arguable) adult men sitting on it. 

They spoke softly about little things, Dan asked if what Phil was doing at university at the moment. Phil asked Dan what he was doing at sixth form (of course Dan's answer was always vague, how could he tell Phil that in 'sixth form' he learnt cleaning spells and runes). 

Long after it had gone dark and the sky was being lit up by stars and streetlamps. Phil suggested calling it a night. 

"What about your car?". Dan asked, looking over at the general area where Phil left it. 

"I leave it there all the time, I live a short walk away". Phil said and then Dan offered to walk Phil to his house. Which Phil turned down at first, but Dan weighed him down and he agreed. 

They were outside of Phil's house and Dan was on the doorstep while Phil opened the door with his keys. Phil contemplated inviting Dan in, despite his father being there, but the idea was quickly deflated. 

It was like he realised everything that could go wrong with inviting Dan in. Why was he so negative recently?

Phil opened the door and turned to Dan, "I really enjoyed tonight, do you need a taxi to take you back to the train or?". Phil asked, making sure Dan would get back okay. 

"I'll be fine. I really enjoyed tonight too". Dan said. And just like that they were having another moment. 

Dan leaned, Phil leaned. And just as Dan's lips were about to touch Phil's, he pulled Dan into a hug instead and Dan kissed the side of his face instead. To say he was mortified would have been a severe understatement. 

"God". Dan said, swallowing and stepping away from Phil. 

"I'm sorry, Dan. Friends?". Phil whispered, pulling Dan back into a warm hug. Dan felt like shit. How had he failed so miserably?

Phil shut the door and slid down it. Why didn't he just kiss Dan? It was like a block, but Phil couldn't explain it.

Dan said a sharp and quick goodbye to Phil and when he returned to his flat, he knew what he needed to do. 

He was going to redo the day.

**

Oblivion had been working Louise and PJ to the bone for the upcoming date of Dan and Phil. They had to work extra hard to block Phil's feelings and not only Phil's, Dan's too. All the while trying to secretly warn Dan about Oblivion's plans to ruin his and Phil's romance before it even started. 

Oblivion was watching carefully throughout the whole date, pushing Louise to force Phil to have thoughts, not to reach out and touch Dan's hand, not to kiss Dan and push him away at the end of the night. 

After Oblivion had succeeded in ruining Dan and Phil's first date, only Louise and PJ caught on to what Dan was doing. They both shared a look and were silently rooting for Dan, while they heard a large shout from Oblivion sound from his office. 

Restarting the day was something Oblivion never thought Dan knew about, let alone could do. There was a big storm coming for Dan, and Louise needed to warn him, and fast.


	8. Chapter 8

Dan clapped his hands, a small flash of light following and then seemingly, nothing was different. It was still dark outside and Dan was still in his hotel room. 

But everything had changed. It was 24 hours earlier, well. To nearly everyone in the northern hemisphere. Dan wasn't that powerful. And it was only a perception not really a day before, easier than actually changing the Earth's axis. 

Dan fell back to sleep to meet Phil again, a little bit nervous but those nerves slightly more contained. 

**

Dan got ready, as he did yesterday, and started making a mental list of all the things that went wrong yesterday that he could try and fix today. Anything could've gone wrong. 

Maybe it was when he brought up the flower at the start of the date? Maybe it was the film they watched? Maybe it was the fact Phil never even watched the film? Dan had some ideas down and decided he'd do this well this time round. He'd do it how he was supposed to. 

**

Dan met Phil at the train station exactly how they did the day before, except this time when Dan accepted the flowers Phil gave him, Dan didn't mention that they were an aphrodisiac before they then drove to the cinema to watch Avatar. 

When they were sat in the cinema room watching the film with their shared popcorn, Dan told Phil to watch the film instead of stare at him like he had done yesterday. Dan's theory was that he'd stared at him too long and saw something he didn't like. 

The day was going well, they were at dinner and they were eating their food and this time discussing the film. But then it went bad. 

An older couple with a child were sat near them and they turned around and shushed Phil, telling him he was spoiling the movie that they hadn't seen and so they went back to silence. This time uncomfortable. 

Just as they were leaving the restaurant, Dan opened his bag and offered to pay for the food 50-50 with Phil but Phil waved Dan's offer off. He told him it was his treat. 

Except an older lady was staring down into Dan's backpack and saw the flowers he'd placed at the bottom and pointed them out.

"Lovely flowers. White Dittany. Passion, love, aphrodisiac, you know?" She chuckled, looking over at Dan and Phil in an 'aww, young love' manner some people do. 

Dan choked on his water, looking up at Phil to see a similar reaction. "I didn't know". His cheeks going a rosey pink colour like it did 'yesterday'. 

After that, the day finished in the same way. Phil pushed Dan away and Dan already knew he was going to restart it. There was no question. 

He just hoped he wasn't going to take it too far. 

**

It was the next day and after having a fitful sleep, Dan was back at the Train Station planning a new day of activity. 

Dan figured they would go to the cinema again, that wasn't what went wrong. It was everyone in that damn restaurant. So Dan changed that in his psychological list in his head. 

They would go to a Chinese restaurant instead, that would be better. No more people telling them off for talking about films, no more old ladies telling them they should be fucking rather than eat a lovely meal. Not at all how Dan wanted their first date to pan out. 

It all happened smoothly, Phil liked the film again and when Dan suggested a Chinese Restaurant, Phil knew where a really good one was in the town. 

When they got there, they spoke about the film and no one told them to be quiet, and so they could speak freely about it. 

It wasn't until Phil decided they got their meal that it went wrong, very wrong.

"Oh". Phil coughed, grabbing his water and swallowing multiple glasses down in quick succession. 

"What?". Dan asked, giving Phil his water because he was going red and sweating. 

Phil managed to breathe it, "Spicy". Before darting off to the nearest waitress to get a new jug of water. Dan knew he'd screwed up again, maybe he should've stopped Phil picking such a hot item on the menu or maybe not even came to this restaurant. It was like everything he did was being twisted to have a negative outcome. 

When Phil came back, he asked to have a milder dish and was presumably fine, bar a slightly painful tongue and sweat drenched hair. 

The night finished early this time, no walks in the park. Nothing. Phil drove home, dropping Dan off at the train station beforehand. 

There was shot when Dan was leaving the car, so he went for it. 

"Dan... Let's not?". Phil said, putting his hand on Dan's shoulder. Dan closed his eyes, shutting them tight and nodding. 

He left the car and then went back to the bed and breakfast. Time to make another mistake. 

**

The Fourth Attempt went from bad to worse in a matter of seconds. Yet again, the date went well up until they went to the restaurant. Dan decided not to change the Chinese restaurant, after all, the food was good. Phil just couldn't handle his spice. This time, however, he ended up choking on a piece of lemon chicken. Luckily a paying customer was a doctor and performed the Heimlich. 

In the Fifth Attempt, Dan changed the restaurant again. This time Phil ended up drinking all the free proseco and vomited on Dan's shoes. Leaving Dan to drag home a very drunk Phil. 

The Sixth Attempt started a bit late, partly because Phil was hungover and had no idea why. Everything went good, and then they went to a different restaurant. They ordered and just as they got their food, it was ruined. An ex of Phil's just had to come over and ruin it all. After she left, Phil told Dan what happened with her and why he was sour towards her. She outed him to his dad when they went out in school and then Dan found out Phil's dad was homophobic. This didn't do wonders for them. 

The Seventh Attempt was a whole different kettle of fish. 

They went to the cinema, and then they went and had a picnic at a park. Dan had grand plans. He had removed Phil's dad from the area by sending him on fake business. 

Yes, shady. But Dan couldn't help but think that Phil's dad was creating a barrier. He couldn't get close to another man if his homophobic dad would be in the next room. 

They finished the picnic and they walked back to Phil's house. Phil's hand graced Dan's at some point and Dan got excited. This was it. He had Eight weeks left and he'd done it. Phil just needed to admit his love and then he'd be released from The Above. 

They got to Phil's door and this is what made more hope spread across Dan's body. "Do you want to, maybe, come in for a cuppa?". 

Phil made Dan a cup of tea and they sat at the kitchen table. They finished their drinks and then Phil walked Dan to the door when it was getting a bit late. 

Dan misjudged again, and leant in for a kiss which was denied with another shoulder push, but it was delicate. Like he didn't want to push Dan away. "I like you, Dan. I do". Phil said, exhaling. "I just". He paused, swallowing. "I need to figure things out?". 

Dan left Phil's house and went back to his hotel. He didn't automatically change the day back, like he'd done the past week. He thought over what went wrong, what went right and he was stumped at what to change for the next day. 

He redid the day anyway. Getting into bed and closing his eyes, feeling exhausted already. 

**

Oblivion was pushing Louise and PJ more and more over the week of Dan's failed redo's. They were becoming more and more drained as the week was going by. 

He wouldn't let them stop, he couldn't let Dan leave. He wouldn't let Dan leave. Even if that meant breaking two hearts in the process.


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If I don't get this finished by Sunday, you all have permission to spam comments asking where the next chapters are etc. Because if I don't get it up before I start uni, this might take me a while longer to do. Enjoy (?)

It's Dan's Eighth redo day, and instead of getting his round 8 hours of sleep, he's woken by a loud bang nearly an hour earlier. 

He opened his eyes and inspected the room, nothing was out the ordinary and so Dan assumed it was coming from the other room or he'd dreamt it. He closed his eyes again, falling asleep for a few minutes when there was more noise. 

His backpack was on the floor and his clothes were strewn everywhere. He'd only closed his eyes for a few minutes! He got out of bed and hung his backpack back up on the door and he placed his clothes on the chest of drawers in his room. 

He got back in bed, and he was just about to close his eyes again, when he heard his name. It was so very clear. 

"Dan". 

He didn't know what was happening but it sounded like Louise, his friend from The Above. "Yeah?". He whispered, just out into the room. 

"Listen to me. Oblivion, he's trying to stop you getting close to your soulmate. He's making us change Phil's mind, but it isn't working. You are winning. You just need to break it down further, Dan. You're nearly there". 

Dan hadn't a clue what just happened, but it explained a whole lot of the shit that had been happening this past week.

Oblivion had gotten Louise to do his dirty work so that Dan would come back. He'd probably dragged PJ to do it too, his two friends forced to ruin his life. 

Well. Dan wasn't just going to sit back and do nothing.

**

Apparently he would've been better sitting back and doing nothing. Another week had passed and Phil had never invited him in even if the dates were going so well, Dan could practically see it in his head. 

He would've invited him in, if it weren't for Oblivion fucking up his head. Dan could see it, Phil wanted to. Phil wanted to hold his hand, kiss him and invite him in for a night cap. But he did none of them. 

The eighth redo ended with Phil telling Dan he wanted to stay friends. 

The ninth ended similarly, except Phil told Dan he could see them being really good husbands in the future. Basically. Maybe. Dan probably read too much into the situation. What was he supposed to think when Phil pointed at a gay couple and said that they were them in ten years time. And they were definitely a couple. 

One had brown curly hair while the other had a black quiff, and they were holding hands looking at apartment readings. And at one point the other leaned over and they did an eskimo kiss and were giggling. 

They were definitely a couple. Dan wasn't reading into too much. 

The tenth went slightly worse, as in Phil got ill at the restaurant and ditched for the rest of the night. Nothing, not even a hug would've made Phil stay that night. 

The eleventh went similarly to the sixth attempt where they ran into Phil's ex again, which made him feel down. But luckily, Dan had already figured what Phil needed after this. It was to just go to a park and swing on the swings. And then Phil, as Dan expected, pushed him away at the night. But it was more gentle. 

The twelfth, thirteenth and fourteenth were quite boring. Louise and PJ mus have been working very hard to make Phil not like him. It was like Phil wasn't even there. 

And that was another week gone.

Dan didn't really know why Oblivion would do this to him. Well, he knew Oblivion had never 'lost' an angel. Other lords had of course lost angels, but Oblivion had a tendency to keep his. 

People thought it was just luck. Anyone in Oblivion's household just had bad luck, but it was clear that Oblivion was changing the game. He was making sure his slaves came back. Altering their Soulmates perceptions etc. 

So now he had Seven Weeks left until that was it, until Oblivion had won. 

And obviously Dan has no idea what to do, because he isn't doing anything wrong he just needs to make Phil have the best night of his life and take back control. 

How was he going to do that? He had no idea and he'd been failing so far.


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Everyone's probably like 'oh no, they're speeding through' and yes, I am. I don't want to leave this because I am going to be busy soon. I hope you get that? Enjoy?

It had been another rough fortnight, or two weeks, for Dan, leaving him only six weeks left. He was halfway through his time and he wasn't getting anywhere with Phil. Obviously, it wasn't Phil making those decisions and steering the ship, but it was still Phil in a way. 

Dan didn't even bother changing anything substantial for any of the days. They went to the cinema, then to a restaurant and then whether or not Phil was up for it, they'd go to a park and then Dan would walk Phil to his house. When he wasn't willing, Phil would drive Dan to the train station and wish him a safe journey, not before making sure him and Dan didn't have a chance together. 

There was only a few of the days Phil had shown some more, well, 'Phil' tendencies. 

One particular day, they walked past an anime store and Phil jumped around until he persuaded Dan to watch every anime there ever was on cruncyroll, and never watch American remakes, particularly ones on Netflix. Dan heeded the warning, and then the day carried on.

Another day, Phil told Dan about his parent's divorce. About how his mum is supportive but lives in Australia, and how his dad is a dick and his brother is really cool, but he has his own life now. A life without Phil, as they all seemed to have. 

And then another day, Phil told Dan about his dissertation of all things. He'd wrote about the representation of gay and lesbian relations in different mediums of literature. He told Dan about how everyone in his class didn't really think he should do that, he wasn't out at uni at the time. His tutor had looked over it and had the audacity to tell Phil it reflected quite badly on his own character and personality. 

And that was the day Phil came out to everyone in uni. 

Despite all these quite good times, Phil frequently pushed Dan away, it didn't matter what Dan did or said. And sometimes it wouldn't be in a 'lets just be friends' way, sometimes Phil would say he'd 'gotten the wrong end of the stick' or that he 'just didn't bat for that team'.

Oblivion was forcing these words in his mouth, Phil had told him he was bi very early on via DM's and he wasn't exactly hiding it on his YouTube channel. 

Dan had decided he'd give up soon. He wouldn't restart the day again. He'd leave Phil alone. Inside, he knew he would never give up, but at this moment in time, lying in a bed that wasn't his own looking back on the weeks events, he was contemplating. 

"What's the worst thing that would happen?". He asked out loud, staring at his ceiling, one particular stain taking his focus. 

Apparently, he'd either gone delirious or he was dreaming, because the stain started moving. And not only that, it was thinning out and forming words. 

'Dan'. It read at first, and the shape changed again. 

'You can't give up'. It then read, changing as soon as Dan had finished the sentence. 

'You're nearly there'. And then Dan exhaled. This was Louise's work again. 

"How, Lou? Tell me how I can do this!". He shouted, grasping his hand to his mouth. He shouldn't have shouted that loud. People below would've heard that. 

The stain changed again, 

'Phil needs control back', Dan whispered "What?". Louise was speaking in tongues, on the ceiling, with a stain. 

'Oblivion has Control, even you have control'. Dan read through it and he didn't get to react before the words were changing. 'Phil has no control'.

And then the words faded, and Dan knew Louise wasn't coming back for extra words of wisdom. 

Dan knew what to do, and maybe his original plan of quitting wasn't such a bad idea.


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm hoping and praying I get this finished before uni starts. Hope you enjoy this one!

Dan had 35 days before he would fail, lose the game, done. And he was going to spend them trying to get Phil to fall in love with him... By not trying at all. 

It was a plan he'd come up with after Louise's words had left him feeling a bit shit. He'd realised he needed to not make all the decisions. Ever since the first date he was the one who made the decisions, he was the one who chose what they'd do, what they'd eat and Phil was just there for the journey. 

So Dan decided he'd sit back and let Phil decide what they'd do for their 'first date'. 

Phil picked up Dan like what happened literally millions of times and gave him his flowers, which Dan stuffed in his bag like he had been doing the past few dates. 

Now it was time to change the game. Phil asked Dan what he wanted to do, to which Dan shrugged. Like he'd practised in the dirty mirror in his hotel. Not too awkward, the perfect level of nonchalance. 

Phil had a thinking face for a while, they sat in the car park to the train station for at least ten minutes before Phil made a decision. 

"I haven't had a coffee today? Shall we go to Starbucks?". Phil asked, his eyes lighting up at the idea of a sweet cup of warm coffee.

Dan agreed. If Phil wanted to take Dan to a café as part of their date, he was welcome to. 

When they got there, Phil told Dan to pick out a table while he ordered their drinks. Dan wanted a surprise, giving Phil the chance to order him something nice. 

Dan picked out a nice secluded table out of sight in the corner, the seats facing each other with a small round table in the middle. It was perfect. 

Phil came over with a cream coloured tray and set it down on the table. 

"A mug of the finest coffee this establishment has to offer". Phil said, presenting the mug to Dan. 

"What is it?". Dan asked, eyeing the froth and the golden coloured swirl placed on top. Phil grabbed a spoon and mixed his own drink and handed the spoon to Dan. They touched hands and Dan could've sworn there was a spark. Small, but it was there. 

He took the spoon off Phil and repeated what he did, mixed the drink and then he took a small sip. It was heavenly, and he told Phil so. Although, Phil didn't need telling. He had been watching Dan's face to gauge his reaction. 

"It's great, isn't it?". Phil said, over his own mug of coffee. "It's a Caramel Macchiato". 

Dan smiled and drank the rest of his drink, ordering another. 

**

After Dan had consumed three Caramel Macchiato's and Phil had drank his Caramel Macchiato as well as an espresso, they went to the cinema as they had been doing the past few weeks, but this time they watched a film Phil chose. 

It was the hangover. 

"My friends at uni have been raving about this film". Phil commented when he walked back to Dan with the tickets and popcorn. 

They tool their seats, in the middle rather than at the back - another thing Dan let Phil choose.

Despite Dan hating the film (he just didn't get it?), he liked that Phil seemed to enjoy it. He laughed at all the comedy and he even put his arm around Dan. He must have been blocking Oblivion's powers a lot today, maybe Phil was regaining control. 

The film finished, and after they had walked to the car and parked it up in a little clearing, Phil led Dan to 'the best pizza place in the whole of Manchester'. Dan believed him, he hadn't had much experience with pizza anyway, so he went with it. 

The pizza place was a small hut just across the park, it didn't have many tables inside, but Phil found one that had some privacy. They ordered a pizza, double pepperoni with jalapeños, and drank their water while they waited. 

"I always come here with my mum when she's around". Phil said, playing with the coaster that was under his glass to avoid stains on the restaurants apothecary. 

"Do you see your mum often?". Dan asked, engaging in the conversation, in a way that Phil clearly wanted. 

"Considering she's in Australia, I do. But not as much as I'd like". Phil said, gulping the rest of his water down. 

The food came, and Phil gladly accepted the distraction and chewed on a particularly cheesy slice of pizza. Dan took the time to think about how different this date went, and all it took was for Phil to lead him around Manchester rather than Dan suggest places. He was having a better time than being on any of those other dates, and he wasn't trying as hard. 

After they finished the pizza, they ordered desserts. ("As is the tradition", Dan commented, when Phil asked for the dessert menu rather than the bill). They both ate warm brownies in peace, Dan giving Phil small smiles over his dish, and Phil doing the same with glassy eyes. 

(Phil had two glasses of chardonnay to accompany his pizza and maybe that was getting to him). 

They finished up, Phil paying the bill and they walked back to the car. 

"I can leave the car here, I'm always leaving it here". Phil said, picking up anything he'd left in the backseat and locking the doors. 

It had started getting dark, and also a bit breezy, and so Phil had put his arm around Dan's waist. "You looked cold". He said, letting Dan rest his head on his shoulder while they walked for a bit, with no real destination in mind. 

It was barely 15 minutes after they had walked and headed in one direction until they saw a wheel, or the Manchester Eye, in the immediate distance. That was when Phil had the idea. 

"Shall we go on the wheel?". Phil asked Dan, as soon as Dan's eyes lit up. 

They walked up to the line and Phil paid for two goes. They got in a little cubicle and squished together for warmth. They got to the top and Dan inhaled sharply. It was beautiful. The whole of Manchester was lit up with yellow, pink and green colours, busy with people. 

Phil wasn't looking at the sighte, he'd been up the Eye more times than he could count; he was looking at Dan. "It's beautiful". Phil said, not removing his eyesight from Dan. 

The wheel continued moving and then they went back up, Dan leaned on Phil and watched the colours as they all blurred. 

They got off the wheel and they departed. It was time for the kiss, perfect time to just lean in for a peck. Dan leaned in, and this time so did Phil. Dan stopped, letting Phil meet in the middle. 

But they never did. 

"I'm sorry". Was all Phil said before he darted off around the wheel, leaving Dan stood in the town square. Alone and confused.


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so out of schedule for this, it's actually pissing me off. It'll be a win if I have this finished before Halloween. Let's say updates every Friday? Maybe. Even if there is only probably 3 to 4 chapters left. enjoy?

After a few days of the same date, with the same endings, Dan had came to the realisation that he needed to alter how the day went. He wasn't meddling, or intervening. It was more like managing Phil. Making sure Phil did something different rather than Starbucks, Cinema, Meal and Wheel. Even if it was as simple as changing the order. 

So when Phil suggested Starbucks, Dan decided to shoot his shot. 

"Can we go on the wheel?". Dan asked, sounding excited when they walked passed it. He had to make it look like it had just popped into his head when they went closer. 

Phil agreed, rather reluctantly as he thought going on a wheel wasn't something people did in the morning. 

They got on there and got to the top and just as Dan had reached over to kiss Phil, the whole wheel lurched. It came to a stop with a creek and a bang, leaving Dan and Phil suspended in the air. 

Phil swallowed, Dan could feel his heart rate increase. "Shit. I'm not too keen on heights".

After twenty minutes of trying to calm Phil down, Phil vomited. Everywhere. It mostly landed on the floor of their carriage, but some seeped onto people below. The people walking around minding their own business, people on the wheel with them and people waiting for their family to get off the wheel. 

To say Phil was mortified was, well, it was wrong. Because someone couldn't be mortified if they had fainted. 

Another ten minutes passed and Dan was with an onsite ambulance crew who were seeing to Phil. His fear of heights, motion sickness and the fact he'd not drank water for a while combined to make a very sick Phil. 

The crew let Phil go with Dan, after giving him some orange juice and a couple of painkillers for a bump on his head caused by his fainting. 

They'd reached the end of a road that led to roads and nothing else, Phil suggested he go him early. So Dan left him with a small caress of the hand and he was gone.

So that was the worst day yet. 

**

The next day, Dan had some clear plans. All of which went down the drain when Phil turned up without the flowers. He'd never done that. Dan couldn't think of a day he hadn't seen Phil without the flowers,and he was stumped. 

This was a game-changer. 

In place of the flowers he usually held, Phil was holding a large wicker basket. 

Dan had asked what the basket was for, Phil had told him it was a surprise. Dan asked what they were doing today, Phil told him that was a secret. Dan had even asked Phil if they were going to a place that had WiFi, Phil replied by tapping his nose and adding, "Classified information, Mr Howell".

So Dan shut up and let Phil lead him to wherever (most likely his own grave). 

What all the secretiveness was about turned out to be a picnic. Phil had brought sandwiches and other picnic-y things, a blanket, some wine and two glasses and tucked all the way at the bottom was a single bright red rose in a bright green glass bottle; which Phil pulled out and placed in the middle of the both. 

They tucked into the sandwiches, enjoying each other's company like they had never done before. 

The wine made Dan feel tipsy and good, he hiccuped this to Phil. To which Phil laughed, eyes crinkling at the edges, "You had one glass, lightweight". He said, nudging Dan's side with his foot. 

They stayed like that all day and long after it had gone dark. Even star gazing together, allowing Dan to relay information to Phil about all the different stars. He knew quite a bit about them, something about them being important to The Above made them all crazy about stars. Dan never really got the hype until now. 

Not because the stars themselves were beautiful, but Phil looking at them made Dan feel giggly and yet, safe. Phil made him feel protected. 

Before it started getting light again, Phil left Dan. Giving him a hug this time, squeezing him tight. Dan presses his head into the gap between Phil's head and shoulder and he felt like he was home. 

Before all that was ripped away from him of course and he started the day again. 

**

A few more days of Phil bringing picnics made Dan feel happy. At the end of the night, he'd have a smile that lasted right up until the moment he redid the day. 

He knew Phil had fallen in love already, not as much as him but it was love, but some stupid rule in some stupid old book meant it had to be a kiss to seal the deal as it were. 

If Phil didn't kiss him, he was still owned by the lords in the Above and that was it. Phil would never see him again and Dan would be forced into manual labour again for the lords.

Eventually, it was approaching the three week mark. Twenty one days and then Dan was done. 

It was safe to say Dan was terrified, but he knew he could do this. Twenty one days. Time starts now.


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's certainly not how I expected this to go and I'm slightly disappointed with it. I just hope you can all look past the rushed job. X

When Dan had woke up to the alarm he'd put on his phone and couldn't believe he only had three weeks left.

Surely he could get more time? But he knew there was no point asking. His lords wanted him back, after all they had tried to ruin his chances at love and were still doing so.

Dan got ready and headed to the train station. He'd waited for more time than usual already and so he decided to look back at the memories of the date before.

Phil had drank a lot more wine at that picnic. He remembered there being three bottles of wine, and then he looked again and they had half a bottle left. Phil had definitely drank two bottles to himself and so when they stumbled around back to Phil's house there were some weird things said. 

Phil told Dan he fancied him, in between giggling in his face. He also told Dan that he liked his legs and the fact he was shorter so he could kiss his nose. He told Dan he wouldn't kiss his nose. 

Not that he ever really explained that, but Dan put it down to a combination of alcohol and the fact that Oblivion was still working his manipulation on Phil. 

After Dan dragged Phil home, he put him in his bed and kissed his forehead. He couldn't steal their first kiss, he wouldn't. And so pulled up the cover so it reached Phil's chin and quietly left the house.

He redid the day and got in bed. 

But now he was realising what was happening. Phil would be hungover and probably wouldn't be here till later. That's what happened when he got Phil drunk. 

So maybe a booze less picnic is what Phil would need. 

Luckily, it wasn't too long later when Phil came running into the station and crashing into Dan's arms. 

"Ohgod, I'm late. So late. Sorry". He blubbered, leaning against Dan's body while simultaneously wrapping his arms tight around his torso. 

Dan rubbed Phil's back. "It's ok. I wasn't waiting that long". 

And then Phil grabbed Dan's hand and dragged him down the road. 

Yet again, Dan asked what they were doing, but Phil remained silent. He knew it wasn't a picnic for many reasons; Phil didn't have a basket, they weren't going the way they had the past few days. 

They'd been walking for around ten minutes when Phil showed Dan an outdoor theatre. 

"They are showing Grease 2, the superior Grease". Phil smiled, remembering what Dan had said in a previous skype session about his unpopular opinion. It's safe to say Phil made a good decision. 

They sat down on the grass and got comfy.

It was barely halfway through when Phil had fallen to sleep on Dan. No doubt due to his hangover he wasn't aware he had, and the fact he found the film boring. Phil preferred action films, not musicals. (It still didn't stop him knowing all the words to every song on the High School Musical soundtrack). 

Dan would never admit this to anyone. Especially Louise who always made a point of watching Grease 2 in The Above whenever it was one of their birthdays, but Dan fell asleep before Michael came back and reunited with Michelle Pfeiffer's character. At least he heard the start of 'Seasons' before he fell asleep. 

He leaned against Phil and he was so warm, he just couldn't help himself. 

It was an hour after the movie had finished when an older woman was waking Dan and Phil up. She told them she needed to clean up the field and they were impeding on the cleaning process. 

Dan got up and so did Phil and they started walking, with no real destination but they walked together. Hand in hand. 

They walked to a part of town that had bars and clubs everywhere with people starting to line up. 

Phil dragged Dan into one, getting past the bouncers. After Dan looked around he realised where they were, a gay club. 

"I used to come in here on Wednesdays for the student night". Phil shouted over the music. Dan nodded and saw men grinding on men, women dancing on other women and everything in-between ordering drinks at the bar and heading over to the dance floor. 

Phil took Dan to the bar and bought him a shot. And that was it. Dan knew something was happening. 

**

When Dan woke up the next morning he knew something was different. Not wrong. Different. 

He rolled over and instead of falling out of bed or hitting a wall which is what had been happening to him in his shitty hotel room, he hit a person. 

A Phil, to be exact. 

And now when he opened his eyes, he realised he wasn't in his hotel room. Green and blue sheets. He recognised the room from the skype calls with Phil.

He was in Phil's bed, with Phil next to him. Naked. Wait. He was naked?

And he looked down and true as the day is long, they were both stripped down to nothing but their birthday suits. 

He tried to remember what happened to lead up to this moment but he couldn't remember. He hadn't restarted the day. Dan realised how much power it would take now to redo the day, double the usual amount. It would completely drain his power for two days. 

He rolled back over slowly and started to pull around at the clothes that was in a pile at the bottom of the bed. 

He found his boxer shorts and his t-shirt but no evidence as to where his jeans had gotten to. 

Dan waited for Phil to wake up, during this time he tried to figure out if it had worked. Was he released from The Lords? Had his ownership finally transferred back to himself? 

He wasn't sure. He didn't feel different. But how would he feel? Free? He'd never felt that feeling, how would he know what it was like.

Dan had many questions. 

Luckily for him, Phil was about to wake up. Phil stretched first, and then he opened his eyes. Dan tried to gauge his reaction. Was he expecting to wake up beside Dan?

Phil smiled, and leaned over. Rubbing his nose against Dan, and then leaning in for a kiss. It was soft, if Dan hadn't been searching for it, he might've been convinced it was in his head. 

"'Morning". Phil said, grabbing his own boxers and sliding them on. 

"What happened last night?". Dan yawned, sliding his arms around Phil and leaning his head on Phil's chest. 

"I don't really remember. I just got this impulse to ask you to stay the night, and then I kissed you". Phil whispered. 

Dan felt his heart fall. He couldn't help but think about it like that. Louise had manipulation powers. She could make Phil kiss Dan. 

Dan got up, kissed Phil on the cheek with the excuse of needing the toilet and ran down the hall. He locked the door and sat on the closed toilet lid. 

It was Louise. It had got to have been. Phil wouldn't have kissed him otherwise. 

Just as Dan was plotting his escape to redo the day and plan again, figures started to appear. 

His Lord, Oblivion, with an angry look on his face with Louise and PJ in tow and the head Lordship, Sacred. 

"What. The hell's happening?". Dan whispered, starting at the three people who had appeared while he was still trouser less. 

"It wasn't me, Dan. Even if I wanted to, I couldn't", Louise's voice echoed. She wasn't actually there. 

Dan didn't understand, he turned to his Lord and Lordship who both nodded. 

Oblivion grunted. "He won, Dan. I don't know how he did it, but he did". Dan didn't understand, he looked at all three faces, and then he was looking at the floor. 

Sacred spoke up, "You are free, Dan. We'll transfer £20,000 to sustain you, but you are free". 

He looked at Louise for more answers, the other figures disappearing from sight. 

Louise launched into the story. "I don't know what happened, Dan. But yesterday, when Phil woke up, he just snapped out of the manipulation. He gained full control. Not even you could change his mind. His love is too strong, Dan. He loves you". 

Dan tearfully said goodbye to Louise, knowing he would never see her again. 

He washed his hands and splashed water on his face, that was it. He was free. He was loved. He had Phil.

He got back in bed with Phil and pressed a passionate kiss to Phil, falling back asleep wrapped in the warmth that was Phil.


	14. Epilogue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is done! I'm really sorry if it wasn't how you wanted it to turn out and I know I rushed it. Stay tuned for some one shots in future as I don't really have any chaptered fics planned yet. Yet again, I hope you enjoy this fluffy ending to quite a confusing fic!

It was three months after Dan had escaped the Above. No contact with them since and he was moving in with Phil into a small flat in the centre of Manchester. 

Yes, if Louise was with him she'd say he was rushing into things while PJ would tell him to grab life by the balls and not to let it escape. 

They'd set up everything in their flat; the bedroom, the bathroom, living room, kitchen and they even made a little office space for when Phil does his uni work and edits his videos. (Which Dan had started helping out with, another excuse to be with Phil).

Except something didn't feel right and it wasn't something in the bedroom. It was days like these that made Dan feel it, feel the powerlessness and sadness about his powers. It was like darkness. He knew he would lose them upon his ties with The Above being severed, but he hadn't expected it to feel like something was ripped from him. 

The memories was the worst thing, as part of a contract of some sort, The Above gave Phil back his memories; as well as everyone else. Only Phil knew the days were restarted by Dan, everyone else had false memories of calendars flicking or dates flashing on their phones, all created by the all powerful beings at The Above. No one would question how one day became multiple, except Phil.

Which was why it took a few long days to get Phil to understand, but after Dan had gone through everything one more time, they sat down on Phil's bedroom floor and lay against the wall. 

"My boyfriend's a magical fairy". Phil whispered, grabbing Dan's hand and kissing the back sincerely; as if to say 'I trust you'. 

Dan scoffed, "Not a fairy. Just a human". 

Nothing could've prepared Dan for all the suddenness of his and Phil's relationship but they knew it was right. 

It was the first night in their new flat, their new home. Dan closed his eyes and let Phil's warmth envelope his whole body, and he shortly fell asleep. 

It was whilst he was dreaming he heard faint whispers, there was no way he could make out the words but just knowing they were there was enough. Louise, PJ and many others checking up on him, just as they had jokingly promised years before Dan reached the appropriate age. 

He smiled and let sleep take him down again. He had Phil and his mission was completed. 

The End.


End file.
